As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

A wild bird once thought to be extinct is making a comeback in inland China. The endangered crested ibis' population is now in the thousands. Its revival is also hatching economic spinoffs in the area.

"The crested ibis is known for its beautiful color. In China, we believe that it brings luck and beauty," says Photographer Li Ping.

For more than 2 decades, Li has dedicated his life to capturing photos of the endangered crested ibis. He wants to raise awareness about the rare species.

"In order to save the crested ibis, more people need to know about it. We need to understand that saving the bird also means protecting the environment," says Li.

The wild bird used to live in East Asia and the Russian Far East. But its population plunged as human development encroached on the bird's habitat. At one point, researchers thought the crested ibis was extinct.

Wednesday, 16 August 2017

The role of melanins in creating complex plumage patterns in 9,000 species

Date: August 5, 2017

Source: University of Chicago Press Journals

Summary:

Birds exhibit an extraordinary diversity of plumage pigmentation patterns. It has been overlooked, however, that complex patterns can be produced only with the contribution of melanins because these are the only pigments under direct cellular control.

Monday, 14 August 2017

The Pin-tailed Whydah,
a parasitic bird, could put native Antilles and Hawaiian island species at
risk.

The word “parasite”
often brings to mind an image a small worm, but sometimes, parasitic species
are not what you imagine. Such is the case for the Pin-tailed Whydah, which is
one of only about 100 parasitic bird species in the world.

The Pin-tailed Whydah (Vidua macroura) is native to
sub-Saharan Africa where it is known for its bright orange beak, black and
white body, and the long tail-feathers they grow during mating season. The
distinct coloration of this species has led to their introduction throughout
the world via the pet trade. Although such proliferation might seem harmless,
the Pin-tailed Whydah’s unique parasitism makes it dangerous to native species
if it is accidentally or purposefully released into the wild.

It said the birds, including
the endangered hoiho / yellow-eyed penguin, were dying after being
unintentionally snared in set nets moored close to the coast.

The group said material
gathered from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) under the Official
Information Act showed 14 penguin deaths occurred in the year from October 2015
to October 2016, but this was just the tip of the iceberg.

Thirteen of these were
reported by MPI observers but only 3 percent of boats had MPI observers
onboard, so the real number of penguin deaths had to be higher, it said.

Forest & Bird chief
executive Kevin Hague said this was not good news.

"It looks as if
the fishing industry is killing hundreds of penguins in set net fisheries and
almost none of it is being reported," he said.

That was because there
was no mechanism to determine how many were dying.

Sunday, 13 August 2017

Grouse moors owners have hit back at claims that shoots harm wildlife by commissioning a report showing rare birds are thriving on their land.

Last week Chris Packham called for an end to grouse shooting labelling the sport ‘moorland vandalism’ and criticised gamekeepers for killing hen harriers - Britain’s rarest bird of prey - to prevent them from eating chicks.

The RSPB also claims that intensive land management practices, such as burning and drainage of peatlands, tracks and the use of veterinary medicines and killing of mountain hares to reduce the incidence of disease in grouse, harm wildlife.

But a new study commissioned by a dozen grouse moors, and undertaken by Newcastle and Durham Universities which surveyed 18 moorland estates across England and Scotland between April and June this year, found some birds were flourishing.

Holkham Nature Reserve has welcomed another rare bird to its list of species, after three young Great white Egrets hatched at the reserve this year.

Throughout the 19th century, these birds were killed across Europe for their ornate feathers, used in the hat trade, and for much of the 20th century the species was under threat, and restricted to wetland areas in Eastern Europe.

Friday, 11 August 2017

The Nilgiri Tit butterfly, a rarely spotted species, was sighted on the Kodaikanal hill during a birds and butterfly survey conducted in Kodaikanal forests by forest officials and members of various voluntary organisations in the State.

A team comprising 45 volunteers spotted 14 species of butterflies and 11 rare birds. Ten groups conducted the survey in 30 places.

Thursday, 10 August 2017

Animals that rely on camouflage can choose the best places to
conceal themselves based on their individual appearance, new research shows.

The camouflage and concealment strategies of various animal
species have been widely studied, but scientists from Exeter and Cambridge
universities have discovered that individual wild birds adjust their choices of where to
nest based on their specific patterns and colours.

"Each individual bird looks a little bit different, and
we have shown that they can act individually," said project co-leader
Professor Martin Stevens, of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on
Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall.

"This is not a species-level choice.

"Individual birds consistently sit in places that enhance
their own unique markings, both within a habitat, and at a fine scale with
regards to specific background sites."

The study, carried out in Zambia, showed that individual birds
chose backgrounds that enhanced their camouflage to the visual systems of their
main predators - being better matched to their chosen backgrounds than to other
places nearby.

One of Suffolk’s rarest breeding birds, the Sandwich Tern, may
be making a comeback after breeding successfully this year at the RSPB’s
Minsmere nature reserve for the first time in almost 40 years.

The Sandwich Tern is a very white ‘sea tern’ with a black cap
and bill with a yellow tip, which distinguish it from other terns. It feeds
mainly on sandeels and small fish, and many of its surviving UK breeding colonies
are on nature reserves.

Before the 1970s, a large colony of Sandwich Terns nested on
Minsmere’s famous ‘Scrape’ – a shallow manmade lagoon dotted with islands – but
since the last successful nesting attempt in 1978 they have only tried to nest
occasionally and without success, until now.

This year, seven pairs of Sandwich Terns settled to breed on
the East Scrape, successfully rearing four chicks so far. They are thought to
be the only Sandwich Terns to breed in Suffolk this year.

Hundreds of years ago, various species of Bullfinch songbirds
took flight and lived among the Azores archipelago, a group of nine major
islands in the Atlantic Ocean about 900 miles away from Portugal. A number
of the small bird species, known for their short and wide beak, were
wiped out following Portuguese colonization of
the archipelago in the 1400s. However, scientists recently found fossils of a
new species of the Bullfinch songbird in a 12,000-year-old volcano on the
Azores’ Graciosa Island.

An international team of researchers led by paleontologist
Josep Antoni Alcover, from the Mediterranean
Institute for Advanced Studies, discovered the bones of the new
extinct songbird species, Pyrrhula
crassa, while excavating an enclave where lava once flowed within the
volcano. Despite the small number of bones the scientists found, the remains
discovered were sufficiently distinctive enough for the researchers to classify
the songbird within its own unique species.

The report of the finding, published in the journal Zootaxa on Wednesday, focused specifically on
how the team analyzed morphology of the bird’s beak to determine the new
species—and its relatively large size. The researchers noted that
the Pyrrhula crassa skull
remains they found were significantly bigger than the skulls of other songbirds
that once roamed the Azores, and of current living species of the bird.
They also found the Pyrrhula crassa wing
length to be bigger than the average songbird, suggesting this may have allowed
it to fly in a way similar to that of larger birds living on São Miguel Island.

Wednesday, 9 August 2017

A tall, bulky and probably near-flightless black swan once
roamed New Zealand. But it was hunted to extinction not long after people
arrived during the late 13th century, and then replaced by its Australian
cousin.

Our research, based
on ancient DNA and morphology, shows that the New Zealand species — dubbed
Poūwa — was unique and genetically separate from the Australian species.

Poūwa was heavier and larger, a bit like an All Blacks rugby
player, and it was well on the way to becoming flightless when it became
extinct.

A potted history of the black swan

The black swan, Cygnus atratus, is a quintessential
Australasian bird. Until their first voyages to Australia, 18th century
European explorers assumed that all swans were white.

By the time Europeans arrived in New Zealand, there were no
black swans. But naturalisation societies introduced Australian birds from
Victoria during the 1860s.

At the same time, black swan bones were being found in fossil
and archaeological deposits in New Zealand and the Chatham Islands. Scientists
concluded that the Australian black swan formerly inhabited the New Zealand
region but that the local population had been hunted to extinction. Until
recently, this was still the prevailing view.

Monday, 7 August 2017

A rare albino sparrow has been captured on camera in a
Perthshire garden.

John Anderson spotted the tiny white creature at his Dunning
property after it fell out of its nest.

Pure white birds like the sparrow are rare.

He was able to capture it on film as the parents attempted to
feed it but it was unable to fly back to its nest.

“I first noticed it last week, he said. “I’m not an expert on
birds but I see a lot of them in my garden and I’ve never seen anything like it
before.

“We do get a few house sparrows in the eaves of the building
and I think one of its siblings must have pushed it out of the nest for fear it
would attract predators.

“It was under a bush under one of the nests. We kept an eye on
it but we were worried foxes would get it in the night, but it was still there
the next morning. The mother would come along and feed it every so often.”

An amateur wildlife photographer from Norfolk made the
sighting of his life - not once but twice - when he photographed a long-eared
owl on consecutive days this week.

Brian Shreeve, 71, and his wife Ann, 72, of Hemblington, made
the rare sighting of the winged predator in the Ludham Marshes area on Monday
and Tuesday. He said: “I have never seen one of them before in my 50 odd years
of loving wildlife.”

Mr Shreeve, a keen wildlife photographer, said he and Mrs
Shreeve usually went out in the early morning and evenings during the week when
it was quieter.

“Ann acts as my spotter. When I’m looking through the
viewfinder she looks around to see what I’m missing.”

Sunday, 6 August 2017

Birds that normally spend their
summers along the southern coast of the U.S. and points farther south in the
Gulf of Mexico and South America are making almost unheard-of visits to
Pennsylvania this year.

A roseate spoonbill has been
drawing anxious birders to Conodoguinet Creek in Hampden Township, near Camp
Hill in Dauphin County for the past week or so. Reports of a roseate spoonbill
- likely the same bird - first emerged July 15 from the Conejohela Flats
section of the Susquehanna River, near Washington Borough in Lancaster County.

If the two sightings about 30
miles apart were the same bird, together they would represent only the fourth
time in nearly 150 years that a spoonbill has been documented in
Pennsylvania.

Lone spoonbills previously were
confirmed in the state in 1869, 1924 and 1968, according to Dan Brauning,
supervisor of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's Wildlife Diversity Program,
project director of the second Pennsylvania Breeding Bird Atlas project in
2004-08 and co-author of "The Birds of Pennsylvania," the definitive
book on birds in the state.

They are normally found along the
Gulf Coast in Florida and Texas, islands in the Gulf of Mexico and South
America.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Wildlife researchers in
Cambodia have found a breeding location for the masked finfoot, one of the
world's most endangered birds, raising hopes of its continuing survival.

The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society said Thursday
its scientists, along with conservationists from Cambodia's Environment
Ministry and residents along the Memay river in the Kulen Promtep Wildlife
Sanctuary, discovered the only confirmed breeding location in Cambodia for the
very rare species.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has placed
the bird on its red list of globally endangered species because its worldwide
population of less than 1,000 is declining at an alarming rate. It is found
only in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Poaching and cutting down the trees where the bird lives are
causing the population decline, said Eng Mengey, a communications officer at
the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Friday, 4 August 2017

In 2011, a Taiwanese businessman named Hsien arrived in
Indonesia with a plan to make himself rich and in the process to systematically
wipe out one of the world’s most majestic and rarest birds, the helmeted hornbill, Rhinoplax vigil, also known as the “King
Hornbill” in the provinces of Kalimantan and Sumatra.

He has made considerable progress. According to an
article on the
website Borneo Features titled “Planning a Path to Perdition,” middlemen
were recruited to put out the word that there was someone willing to pay US$10
for the head of one helmeted hornbill. Over the next year, according to the
article, the middlemen hired a network of people using cars, buses, motorcycles
and boats, heading up the great rivers of Borneo, the Barito, Mahakam,
Kapuas. In the interior of this vast island, they spent time talking to
villagers, telling them they would come every three months to collect, and
leaving their telephone numbers, no questions asked.” “I will come here every
three months to collect.” “This is my phone number. You can call me if you have
a good stock ready for collection, say at least 50 heads.”

Prices have skyrocketed since then, and the organized network
of villagers hunting Helmeted Hornbills has expanded throughout all of Sumatra
as well as Peninsular Malaysia and Southern Thailand—the entire range for the
species.

Thursday, 3 August 2017

Not much surprises the oilbird. Its senses are super sharp and
when combined, may function in a way that can inspire researchers to construct
better drones and more advanced technology.

All animals use a combination of several different senses to
cope. But where the majority typically rely on one or two sensory systems,
which are especially sensitive, the oilbird excels by apparently having keen
senses all-around.

In addition to its extremely sensitive vision, the oilbird has
the neural foundation for an excellent sense of smell, bristles by the beak for
tactile sensation and it also uses its hearing for echolocation, which we find
otherwise pretty much only in bats and toothed whales.

- This complex sensory apparatus, where the animal has the
ability to combine input from so many well-developed senses, is interesting to
study, says Signe Brinkløv, postdoc in the Sound, Communication and Behaviour
Group at the Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark.

As a biologist, she is interested in understanding how the
oilbird uses its senses to achieve the best possible conditions in its natural
surroundings.

From a more applied perspective, she is fascinated by how
researchers' knowledge of animal sensory systems can be used in the world of
humans.

The piping plover, a federally
endangered bird missing from Pennsylvania for 60 years is finally breeding at
Presque Isle State Park in Erie, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

Named after its high-pitched
piping call, the piping plover is a robin-sized shorebird that nests on beaches
and is colored to blend in with sand and sticks.

Unfortunately, the birds'
breeding habitat, open beaches, is also preferred by people.

Development and human traffic on
beaches coupled with predation has caused steep declines in the plover
population through the 1940s and 1950s.

The Game Commission and the
Audubon Society reported two piping plover chicks, which were banded, from one
of two nests at the park's Gull Point.

Strong waves overtook the second
nest, however, the Game Commission and Audubon biologists rescued the eggs,
which were transferred first to the Detroit Zoo and then to the University of
Michigan Biological Station piping plover captive-rearing facility. Two chicks
hatched and will be released on Lake Michigan in early August.

“This is a testament to
dedication and teamwork, not only in Pennsylvania but throughout the species'
range,” said Dan Brauning, Game Commission Wildlife Diversity Program Chief.
“Their return wasn't by chance, or an accident.”

According to the Audubon Society,
bringing the plovers back to the peninsula has taken a lot of work. Audubon
provided the “eyes in the field” since 2009, with Mary Birdsong and other
monitors providing daily updates on bird sightings and activity to all the
agencies involved.

Audubon said it monitors noted,
for instance, a tripling of the shorebird population at Gull Point after groups
removed invasive plants and other vegetation taking over the sandy beach
habitat that plovers and other shorebirds need.

Wednesday, 2 August 2017

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- A conservationist group has
found 19 nests of globally endangered giant ibis during the current breeding
season in the Northern Plains of Cambodia in Preah Vihear province, a Wildlife
Conservation Society (WCS) statement said on Wednesday.

Community members and conservationists are working together
under the Bird Nest Protection Program to protect these nests from human
disturbances and other threats, the statement said.

Giant ibis (Thaumatibis gigantea), Cambodia's national bird,
is listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation
of Nature (IUCN) Red List and exists only in Cambodia and Laos, it said, adding
that about 99 percent of the global population, estimated to contain 194 mature
individuals, lives in Cambodia.

"As of July this year, our research team has recorded 19
nests of the giant ibis; 14 located in Chhep Wildlife Sanctuary and five in the
Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary," said Thong Sokha, wildlife research and
monitoring team leader for Environment Ministry and WCS in Chhep Wildlife
Sanctuary.

He said the species' breeding period is between June and
September, and the team is now working closely with local communities to
monitor those recorded nests and search for new ones in both sanctuaries.

It is believed to be the most
intensively persecuted bird of prey in the UK, leaving it on the brink of
extinction as a breeding species in England, and so a first attempt by hen
harriers to nest in the Yorkshire Dales National Park has been hailed as a
positive sign.

Despite their species’ struggles,
several hen harriers lingered in the Cumbrian part of the park this spring and
a male paired up with two females in a rare example of polygyny in the bird
kingdom but a practice common in hen harrier breeding populations. They
attempted to nest in the park, in what was the first such attempt by hen
harriers in the Dales for ten years. While neither nesting attempt was
successful, park chiefs spoke of their hopes for a more positive outlook for
the species. One failure happened early in the season, the other midway through
the incubation period. With no evidence of human interference, it is thought
that both attempts failed because of predation by foxes.

David Butterworth, chief executive
of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, which joined colleagues from
Natural England in keeping watch over the birds, said: “The Authority is fully
aware of all the issues surrounding hen harriers in the uplands, so it was
really encouraging that the birds’ presence was welcomed by all stakeholders.
“We hope that the enlightened attitude towards the presence of these birds is
the start of a more positive outlook for this species, which will lead to the
hen harrier returning as a regular breeding species within the Yorkshire Dales
National Park.”

The rare native wildlife of a remote island has retreated to a
precarious existence on vertical cliffs. An urgent project supported by the
2017 Birdfair is leading the counter-attack against invasive species to save
the “little planet” of Rapa Iti

By Shaun Hurrell

"Rapa is extremely isolated, even by Pacific standards”,
says Steve Cranwell, BirdLife’s Invasive Alien Species Programme Manager. This,
coming from a man who knows a thing or two about restoring remote Pacific
islands, accustomed to locating coral atolls or tiny rare seabirds, both specks
in an endless ocean, before helicopter fuel runs out or a tropical storm hits.
Saving Rapa’s native wildlife is his next urgent challenge.

About four million years ago, midway between South America and
Australia, a volcano erupted beneath the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean,
bringing into existence the beginnings of a unique new world. A
four-thousand-hectare island, Rapa Iti (“little Rapa”, named to
distinguish it from the distant, larger Rapa Nui or Easter Island) is
one of the Bass Islands in the southernmost reaches of French Polynesia, where
access for the island’s 500 inhabitants is provided only by monthly supply
boat.

Around 170 ex-battery hens in Devon - who have never seen
daylight before - will be slaughtered this weekend, unless homes can
be found for them.

The British Hen Welfare Trust (BHWT), based at Rose Ash in
North Devon, are looking to rehome the birds on Sunday at two
locations in the county - but say they cannot save the hens if they do not have
homes to go to.

The charity is appealing to anyone who has a bit of space in
their back garden to consider giving a home to some ex-bats.

A BHWT spokesman said: "The hens are around 18 months old
when they are sent to slaughter because their egg laying has slowed down, and
whilst they don't come with guarantees, they are generally happy to offer a
tasty reward to someone offering to save their lives.

"Furthermore they will guarantee to any would-be adopter
fun and affection. These little hens are seriously good at worming their way
into hearts."

The rehoming sessions in Devon are among several taking place
across the country this coming weekend.

The Devon sessions take place on Sunday, August 6 at Rose Ash
- where 60 chickens need to be rehomed - and Okehampton - where 110 are without
homes.

All the hens have been working hard for 18 months, laying eggs
to be sold in supermarkets or go into processed foods. They have never seen
daylight, stood on soft grass nor scratched for bugs and slugs.

Gaynor Davies, the charity's Head of Operations, said:
"There is no better feeling than watching these girls flourish after they
emerge from the commercial system.

"They have a full bill of health and will soon become much-loved pets. With a bit of TLC
they become incredibly tame, and they're often described as cats and dogs with
feathers.

"If you've ever considered giving some ex-bats a home my
only advice would be to do it. You won't regret it."

Here are the details of the other sessions across the UK:

Saturday, 5 August

Rotherham (Letwell): 300 hens in total, 100 without homes

Cambridge (Godmanchester): 300 hens in total, 200 without
homes

Nottinghamshire (Newark): 400 hens in total, 200 without homes

Lincolnshire (Stamford): 300 hens in total, 190 without homes

Norfolk (Kings Lynn): 230 hens in total, 80 without homes

Sunday, 6 August

Dorset (Bourton): 200 hens in total, 60 without homes

Sussex (Arundel): 240 hens in total, 115 without homes

Cornwall (Liskeard): 150 hens in total, 115 without homes

Cornwall (Redruth): 150 hens in total, 100 without homes

Devon (Rose Ash): 150 hens in total, 60 without homes

Devon (Okehampton): 150 hens in total, 110 without homes

If you're interested in re-homing some hens, simply register
your details on our website at www.bhwt.org.uk or
call 01884 860084 for more information.